Poudre football calls blitz against breast cancer

The Poudre High football team's pink-powered philanthropy is helping change lives of breast cancer survivors.

Nov. 13, 2012

Lisa Warner of Fort Collins is a breast cancer survivor who received financial assistance from the Poudre High School football team. She is shown with Poudre head coach Dan Reardon and freshman football player Mason Morton, whose family friend suffering from breast cancer was helped by donations. / V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan

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The cancer survivor arrived at Poudre High School two weeks ago, expecting only to speak to the Impalas football program about her battle with breast cancer. But following an emotional address to the team, Poudre football coach Dan Reardon and several team captains presented her with a T-shirt, team apparel and an envelope.

“Why don’t you go ahead and open it up,” Reardon said.

She did. Inside was a check made out to her, one of four donations the Poudre football program would present to breast cancer survivors during the course of two weeks. All in the name of wearing pink.

Pink for the right reason

The NFL kicked off its breast cancer awareness campaign, A Crucial Catch, in 2009. Each October since, players, coaches and officials have worn pink on game days to help shed light on the disease.

It’s a campaign meant to help save lives. Beyond the goal of raising awareness, all game-worn apparel is auctioned off, with the proceeds going to cancer research.

One demographic generally not concerned about getting a mammogram is high school football players. But when the stars of the NFL wear pink, the trend trickles down to the all levels of the sport. Reardon learned as much four years ago while coaching at Ursuline High School in Youngstown, Ohio, when his players wanted to don the color.

“At that time, my sister was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer, so I wanted to make sure we were doing it for the right reason,” Reardon said. “In order to wear pink, they had to raise money or make a donation to breast cancer research.”

Over the years, the minimum requirement has gradually risen from $5 to $25.

This year at Poudre, there was a change in where the money went. Defensive coordinator Tom Schachet suggested some of the money stay local, so it did. Half of the money Poudre raised went to local families to help cover medical costs. The rest went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

Three of the families, including Warner, were local, but there was one exception.

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Moved by the community service project his teammates were working on, Poudre freshman Mason Morton asked his coach if one check could go to his mother’s best friend, who is battling breast cancer in Chicago.

“She’s raising two young kids on her own. Her husband left her because of the whole situation,” Morton said. “She’s been living off the government because she can’t work; she’s been going through all of these treatments that are probably very expensive.

“We had a really good time when she was here (visiting from Chicago), but when she got off the plane in Chicago, she had a seizure and it really made me think about how bad it was. And then when all of the people came in and talked to us about their breast cancer, it — it had an effect on me.”

Seeing the side effects firsthand

Warner spent time on a recent Sunday sharing her personal fight with cancer — which she appears to be winning since it’s been in remission since March 21.

The woman who walked into the Fort Collins coffee shop didn’t sport a wig or bandana — the tell-tale signs we’re programmed to look for when our brains process the word cancer. Instead she wore pink and a huge smile while she stuck out her hand.

“I’m Lisa,” she said.

Warner’s battle with cancer showed in that smile. Marred by black spots and discoloration, Warner’s teeth bore the irreversible brunt of being blasted with aggressive radiation — a dosage usually given to 300-pound males — for a few months.

She talked about “chemo brain,” where cognitive functions are impaired following therapy. While the Mayo Clinic doesn’t have an official stance on chemo brain (or “chemo fog”) being a a true disorder because many cancer survivors score well on cognitive tests, Warner and her husband, Huston, say they’ve dealt with it on a regular basis.

“You know sometimes when you have a word right on the tip of your tongue, but you can’t say it?” Lisa asked. “It’s kind of like that, but much worse and more frequent.”

Both rarely publicized side effects could impair her ability to work efficiently as a server at IHOP, a job Warner has had for 17 years and says she’s in love with. When waiting tables, aesthetics can play a large role in how much money servers come home with, regardless of the service provided. And Warner doesn’t have dental insurance to help correct the issue.

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But then she shared the good news.

Warner, thanks to the generosity of the Poudre football program and with help from a Denver dental school, can get started on rebuilding her smile.

“I love waitressing, I’ve made a career of it. I smile for a living, but when it comes to that point where I’m supposed to smile, I’m very hesitant and find myself often doing it with my mouth closed,” Warner said.

A dedication to service

The Impalas didn’t have the greatest record on the football field this fall, going 2-8 in their first year under Reardon, but wins and losses are only one way to measure success. When it comes to community service, Poudre could be considered city champions, with the breast cancer awareness campaign being one of the many projects the school and its athletic programs tackle every year.

It was Poudre’s reputation of giving that drew Reardon to the north side of Fort Collins in the first place, and continuing that tradition has been a staple of the program since this summer, with team members required to participate in at least one project a year.

Whether it’s planting a community garden in Wellington, volunteering at the High Park Fire community picnic or raising money to help find a cure for a disease that’s expected to claim 40,000 lives in the United States this year, Poudre High School is there.

Craig Woodall, assistant principal and athletic director at Poudre, can’t help but be thankful for working with a student body so dedicated to serve. He said a big reason Poudre is so eager to take on projects is because it serves families that in many cases have lesser incomes than other schools in the district, and that heightens the desire to help.

“There has always been an emphasis for community service at our high school, and our athletic programs have followed suit with it,” Woodall said. “It’s for two reasons. One, we serve a community that has a lot of needs, and two, the adults and students in this building have a passion for thinking of more than themselves.”

As dedicated as the Impalas might be to becoming a Northern Colorado football power, it can only pale in comparison to what they’re doing away from the field.

“Just giving back, or when you see someone’s face when you give them a check or help and the appreciation — it’s really a great feeling to be able to do that,” Reardon said. “To have kids understand the value of helping people in need, whether it’s breast cancer or someone who’s down on their luck, we want to make sure they understand the bigger picture.”